Compound for wiping wire



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. Y UNITE-D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY ROBERTS-AND FREDRICK onion, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMPOUNDFOR? WIPING WIRE.

SPECIFICAT ION fQrming part of Letters iatent No. 275,415, dated April 10, 1883.

\ application flied May 4,21882. tNo specimensl To all whom it may concern FREDRIGK (31mm, of Pittsburg, Allegheny county, in the State of Pennsylvania, have in-' rented certain new and useful Improvements in'Uompounds for Niping Wire, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the inventionis to remove the surplus of melted metal from the wire'in "the -act'of galvanizing. What is properly 'termed galyaniziugl wire is effected by drawing the wire in continuous lengths'through'a long vessel' filled with melted zinc. The wire, having been firsttreated with properacidstoinducethe right condition of the surface, retains, oifj emerging from the metal-bath, acoatingof the zinc, whjchsubsequcntly protects it'fro n the w'e'athenand adds much toits value; butit is found that, unless great care is taken in-wipin g the wire as it emerges,it will retain too thick a coating; The increased thickness is objectionable, not only by'consuming too much zinc and irregularly inereasing the'siie of the wire, but the wire does notre tain the'zinc so well, especially on'sharp bends." There are difliculties in the wiping. Some are due to the practice of uniting the successive lengths of wire by roughly linking together, thereby forming a'rigid enlargement, which makes it necessary to use a wiping material which is mobile as distinguished from rigidly-fixed elements of mechanism. Another difiiculty is due to thehigh temperature of melted zinc, which rapidly burns and destroys ordinaryunprotected cotton and various other materials which might otherwise he available for wip ing. We have, with much experiment, found a composition, of which cotton-waste-and an iucombustible fibrous material known as mineral wool or slag-wool form important elements, which conforms to the requirements, and, when properly conditioned mechanically to insure the proper contact of the wiping material with the hot coated wire rising obliquely from the metal bath, wipes off the surplus, and returns it to the bath, leaving only the desired uniform thin coating of zinc on the wire.

The following is a description of what we consider the best means of carrying out our invention. g

\Ve take one pound oialnm, three-quarters of a pound of pptiish, one-half pound of s u l- Phate of copper or sulphate of iron, and a quarter of a pen nd oFrocl -salQ or more if required, each reduced to a powder, and these ingredients, after being thoroughly mixed with v water, are boiled to the consistency of cream. Then, in a: separate vessel, we mix five quarts of unsinhed lime and three quarts ofunslaked or slaked hydraulic cement. We have used successfully the brands known as Portland fiment and Ro'sen'dale cement.

grcdients arefreshly powdered and mixed. With these wethorou'ghl'y work four quarts of --l ard oil, and li nal ly work th-is oily compound-..

with the waterycompound first described.

We'take ten pounds of cotton-waste, preferably hard-twisted fine yarns. With it we mix three pounds of what is knownas slag-wool or mineral wool--a .vitreou'smaterial produced by subjecting cinder from the blast-furnace to a current of high pressure steam. These are intimately mixed, and constitute the fibrous body of our compound wiping material. These different compounds are now mingled mechanically together by any suitable means. We believe no particular care is necessary to make the union especially intimate; but we prefer that they be as thoroughly mingled as is practicable. The resulting mass should have the required consistency, and upon it we sprinkle and work inone pound of powdered sal-ammoniac.

Our compoundis forced into the wiping-box and kept in contact with-the wires which are to'be wiped. We have used this'compound in the wiping-box set forth in the patent to Henry Roberts, May 17,1881, No. 241,721; but we employ this wiping material only in the lower front side of thebox, where the wires enter, supplying it by forcing itin from the't'ront side of the base of the wiping-box, which is made removable, and forcing it against the lowermost pair of rollers, which latter are allowed to remain at rest when this compound is used. The rollers at more distant points in the box are kept in motion, and perform their usual function on anothe; and different species of material-dry or nearly dry mineral woolwithout any of the other ingredients of the present compound.

There is a large amount of toughness and elasticity in the compound described. ltis These incommon to draw twelve wires at once through a single bath of the melted zinc, and to wipe I j that number side by side in a single wipingmoment. The elasticity and applied pressure restores the wiping compound back to its proper contact with the wire after the splice has passed.

This wiping compound, by its contact, without muchchanging or kneading of its particles, rubs iiiewire' with a gentle pressure and wipes ofl the principal surplus of melted zinc.

The parts ofour compound immediately adjacent to each wire attain a temperature very nearly that of the wire. The inclosing of the wire in a wiping material of such temperature may be of advantage in properly distributing the soft-metal coating. The particles of composition distant from the wire perform important functions in addition to simply holding the workingparticles elastically to their place. They supply moisture and oil to the heated portion and maintain its elasticity and plasticity. Experiments on a large scale indicate that this wiping material will serve about two days, and should then be removed and a new batch sup- -plied.-As w-e have used itin connection with. the wiping-rollers of the Roberts patent of May, 1881, the rollers in the more distant portion of the box were kept in rotation, and worked a quantity of the slag-wool in contact 7 with the wire after it had passed our composition and been principally wiped thereby. We

- believe it of advantage to treat the wire in this manner-vfirst by this composition and afterward-by constantly-renewed surfaces of slagwool or analogous wiping material. It is pr0- posed to use mechanical rammers in addition to the rollers to keep the slag-wool-iu a properly-compacted condition. Such will'be made the subject of a separate application for patent.

Vi e can substitute oth er oilas whale-oil-for the lard-oil prescribed. Lardiall'owjor other fat nTaYserve, heat being applied to'b'ring it to a fluid state for proper incorporation with the other ingredients.

Oil may -be used in-' stead of water in the first compound. The cffect of the small quantity of fluid added to the powdered elements at that stage is mainly mechanical, to make the whole work as a fluid or semi-fluid mass. it oil is used instead of water, the partially fluid condition of the resulting compound, is retained in the presence of the heated wires for a longer period. We prefer, all things considered, to mix the first elements with water, only using a liberal quantityof. oil, as prescribed, in the second compound, and throwing out the material, with its mingled fibrous matter, and replacingit by new before it becomes unworkable. We claim as our invention The wiping material described, composed of a fibrous body, partly of incombustible material, filled with a semi-fluid mass composed of alum, potash, blue vitriol, rock-salt, lime hydraulic cement, oil, or other fatty substance, and. sal'ammoniacfln about thenproportionsw and combined substantially in the manuer'as herein set forth. 7

In testimony whertof we have hereunto set our hands, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, this 1st day of May, 1882, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' HENRY ROBERTS, FREDBIOK ORIGH. Witnesses:

H. E. HOLMES, J. G. BRADY. 

